• Knoxville Unites Against Racism, Deportation Programs, Welcomes National No Papers No Fear Riders

    Knoxville community members and the national delegation of undocumented immigrants on the No Papers No Fear Ride for Justice, will gather for a peaceful demonstration for immigrant rights, and against the 287(g) deportation program. Undocumented immigrants and their allies will share their testimonies focusing on the use of racial profiling, separation of families, and the need for undocumented communities to organize.

    Knoxville, TN – Community members, Knoxville immigrants, and undocumented organizers with the No Papers No Fear Ride for Justice will gather for a peaceful demonstration and march to stand up for immigrant rights, to denounce racial profiling, and programs such as 287(g), a collaboration between federal and local police to enforce immigration law, burdening local governments and eroding the safety and trust of all communities.

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  • Undocumented Immigrants Urge Knox County Sheriff ‘JJ’ Jones To Stop Seeking Direct Collaboration with Immigration Authorities, Welcome ‘No Papers No Fear’ Riders

    Undocumented immigrants and supporters from Knoxville will be speaking out publicly about their experience with programs that seek collaboration between local law enforcement and immigration authorities, which lead to separation of families, distrust between police and immigrant communities, and are marred by practices of racial profiling. The riders of the No Papers No Fear bus will also be arriving on it’s way to the Democratic National Convention, inviting Sheriff to welcome undocumented immigrants to Knox county.

    Undocumented immigrants, including one from Knoxville, Tennessee, will be speaking out in front of Sheriff J.J. Jones’ office about the harm that programs such as 287(g) and Secure Communities cause the Knoxville community. These two programs  promote collaboration between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities, leading to increased separation of families, eroding trust between immigrant and police enforcement. On of the speakers will be Alejandro Guizar, 19, an undocumented immigrant in deportation proceedings living in Knoxville, Tennessee, who was placed in removal while walking home from a graduation party, and continues fighting his deportation even after all criminal charges were dropped.

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  • When we go to Knoxville.

    Riding a bus for weeks at a time as an undocumented immigrant can be a little intimidating. Stopping in cities and towns where there is a clear risk of arrest and jail means overcoming fear. Still, along with my fellow undocumented passengers of the "No Papers, No Fear Ride for Justice," I'm looking forward to our visit to Knoxville as we head toward Charlotte, N.C., and the Democratic National Convention at the beginning of September.

    I am on the bus because it is time for undocumented people like me who live, work, study and organize in this country to come out of the shadows. It's time to change the laws so that people like me and my family don't have to live in fear of jail, deportation or separation. It's time for people in the United States to understand that we are human and we are home, regardless of where we were born or what our immigration status is.

    I've been in the United States since I was 7 years old, My dad, who was having a hard time finding work in Mexico, moved after being offered a job in Chicago. To make sure my sister and I grew up with our father, my mother made the choice to move with him to the U.S. After our visas expired, we became undocumented.

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